April 17 : Cleveland Metroparks Board of Park Commissioners
Covered by Documenter Tucker Handley (notes)
Officers Ike and Sig join the Metroparks police force
The Cleveland Metroparks welcomed two new narcotics specialists to its police force Thursday, April 17. Officers Ike and Sig, both of Belgian Malinois descent, were sworn in to service by Metroparks Police Chief Kelly Stillman, who also thanked CEO Brian Zimmerman for his support. “This has been a goal of mine ever since I was hired here back in November of ‘21,” said Stillman. “Today, we’re actually putting this chapter of my goals to rest.”
Officers Ike and Sig were accompanied by their handlers, Officers Chelsea Schoch and Marcus Fletcher. Metroparks staff asked both dogs to sit still and raise their right paws while their human counterparts recited the swearing-in oath, as neither new officer speaks words.
Stillman then called the ceremony over and instructed the team to leave. This drew objections from some Metroparks commissioners, one of whom said to Stillman, “No, no. Stay. Stay,” then lamented, “I think the most fun part of the meeting just left.”
Dejected but delighted commissioners were able to carry on with the rest of the meeting.
Metroparks sees 19.3 million recreational visits in 2024
Beth Coduti, research and analytics manager for Cleveland Metroparks, informed the board that during 2024 there were approximately 19.3 million recreation visits to the Cleveland Metroparks. That number increases to 51.8 million park visits when including people just driving through the park system.
“Visitor occasions decreased [from 2023] by 600,000, which equates to about 2% of the overall 51.8 million,” Coduti explained. “And then recreation visits increased by just 3,343, so we really kind of remained steady from 2023 to 2024.”
The Metroparks uses anonymized data from cell phone carriers to track a visitor’s time and location in the park.
Pushing back on a public comment
A longtime public commenter at Metroparks meetings, Olmsted Township resident Marty Lesher, addressed park commissioners, saying she had been “threaten[ed with] criminal trespass” for walking in a designated employee-only area near a maintenance building in the Rocky River Reservation. She said she wanted to give staff information she’d received from the Soil and Water Conservation District.
“We [public commenters] all care deeply about the park and want to make it better and safer,” Lesher said. “You are all busy professionals and may be unaware of these issues.”
Lesher told commissioners she has brought doughnuts to Metroparks work crews over the years. “I think they deserve to know they are appreciated while they are working, and not just when they retire,” she said. “I don’t take them for granted.”
Rosalina Fini, Metroparks chief legal and ethics officer, replied to Lesher’s comment, saying Lesher “went past three different signs that informed her of the area…it’s an employees only area.”
Fini also referred to Lesher’s statement implying Metroparks employees are being taken for granted as “misinformation.”
“Her [Lesher’s] comments are offensive and are not accurate,” said Fini.
